Very high-speed linear sortation conveyor with dynamic recirculation capacity

ABSTRACT

A material handling system includes a very high speed linear sortation conveyor that receives articles at an operating speed of 650 to 700 feet per second (fps) and up to 100 fps with gapping as small as one inch. In one or more embodiments, a recirculation sortation conveyor receives articles that are not diverted by the linear sortation conveyor with dynamic capacity sufficient to handle a high speed shutdown of the linear sortation conveyor. The recirculation sortation conveyor is itself a very high speed linear sortation conveyor having a pusher pre-sort feature that can distribute received articles at different lateral positions on an endless conveyor to align with more than one recirculation sortation conveyors that may be operating at a slower operating speed. In an exemplary embodiment, the recirculation sortation conveyor has a divert section for diverting articles to a divert target on a lateral side.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present Application is a divisional of U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 15/375,900 filed 12 Dec. 2016 and entitled “VeryHigh Speed Linear Sortation Conveyor with Dynamic RecirculationCapacity”, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/363,887 filed 19 Jul. 2016 and entitled“Very High Speed Linear Sortation Conveyor with Dynamic RecirculationCapacity”, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

The present Application is a Continuation-in-Part (CIP) of (i) U.S.Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 15/147,475 filed on 5 May2016 entitled “High-Speed, Dual-Sided Shoe Sorter with Offset Induct”,which in turn claims the benefit of (ii) U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/157,501 filed on 6 May 2015 and entitled “Dual SidedShoe Sorter with Offset Induction Lane”; and (iii) U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/308,401 filed on 15 Mar. 2016 and entitled“High-Speed Linear Sortation Conveyor with Selective Top Reinduction”,all three assigned to the assignee hereof, and all three herebyexpressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.

The present Application is a CIP of (iv) of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/298,165 filed on 6 Jun. 2014 and entitled “Conveyor SpeedControl”, which in turn claims the benefit of (v) U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/981,413 filed on 18 Apr. 2014 and entitled“Intelligent Speed Controls In Material Handling Systems Including ASingulator; and (vi) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/832,321filed on 7 Jun. 2013 and entitled “Usage-Driven Sorter Speed Control”,the disclosures of all three of which are hereby expressly incorporatedby reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to material handling systemthat incorporate linear sortation conveyors, also known as shoe sorters,and their components, and is particularly related to controlling highspeed merging, sortation, and recirculation by the material handlingsystem.

2. Description of the Related Art

Sortation conveyors are essential components of high volume distributionand fulfillment operations. A sortation conveyor system typicallyconveys and distributes articles along moving conveyor surfaces, anddiverts selected articles onto a particular conveying branch. Sortationconveyors often employ a plurality of pusher elements which may beselectively moved across the conveying surface in order to divert anarticle from the primary conveying path and onto a secondary conveyingbranch. Sortation conveyors have a primary conveying surface which cancomprise an endless conveyor belt loop formed from plurality oftransverse rollers or slats. When it is necessary to direct an articlefrom the moving conveying path and onto a secondary conveying branch, aswitch or switch mechanism is actuated to cause an assigned set ofpusher elements to be diverted across the moving conveyor surface. Thetransversely diverted pusher elements engage the article to thesecondary conveying branch, such as a takeaway conveyor. Sortationconveyors often use divert tracks or guide surfaces which direct theassigned set of pusher elements laterally across the conveying surface,while pusher elements which are not assigned pass by the divert tracksand continue to travel along the conveying surface in their setposition.

Higher speed linear sortation conveyors can provide for greaterthroughput. U.S. Pat. No. 7,516,835 B2 (“Soft Touch patent”), thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety, provides ahigh speed sliding shoe sortation conveyor. A divert guide is configuredto guide shoes or pushers to engage articles disposed on an endlessconveying surface at an initial impact which does not result in an outof control situation even at high speeds. The divert guide path isdisposed at a plurality of divert angles, and guide pushers to engagearticles at a low initial contact divert angle and first lateral speedand to accelerate the articles to a final divert angle and second,higher, lateral speed. The pushers may be undergoing lateralacceleration at the time initial contact is made with the articles.Articles are inducted onto the endless conveyor surface close to thepushers so that the pushers initially contact a selected article atrelatively low lateral speed and then smoothly accelerate the article tothe divert location.

While the Soft Touch patent enabled linear shoe sortation of articlessuch as totes and cartons as higher rates than previously achieved, whathas long been needed was an overall material handling solution thatachieved greater throughputs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A illustrates a diagrammatic top view of a material handlingsystem that includes a very high speed (VHS) linear sortation conveyorwith two recirculation paths and with a conceptual block diagram of asorter controller that configures the linear sortation conveyor for veryhigh speed operation, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 1B illustrates a diagrammatic top view of a material handlingsystem that includes a VHS linear sortation conveyor with two balancedrecirculation paths and with a conceptual block diagram of a sortercontroller that configures the linear sortation conveyor for very highspeed operation, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the linear sortation conveyorof FIG. 1, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3A illustrates a plan view of a pin guide assembly of the linearsortation conveyor of FIG. 1, with the conveying surface and pushersomitted, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3B illustrates a plan view of a pin guide assembly of the linearsortation conveyor of FIG. 3A with pushers and articles, according toone or more embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagrammatic top view of an example materialhandling system that includes a recirculation sortation conveyor I'mdynamic recirculation capacity that accommodates very high speedoperation, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an isometric view of a downstream end of the linearsortation conveyor of FIG. 2 and an example recirculation sortationconveyor of FIG. 4, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of pin guide assembly of the examplerecirculation sortation conveyor of FIG. 5, according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates a top view of an endless apron of the examplerecirculation sortation conveyor having pushers that interact with thepin guide assembly of FIG. 6 to at least pre-sort articles, according toone or more embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary processing architecture of the examplematerial handling system of FIG. 3, according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates a depiction of an isometric view of a laptop computerfor executing instructions to perform dynamic recirculation for veryhigh speed sortation, according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a depiction of an isometric view of a serverinformation handling system for executing instructions to performdynamic recirculation for very high speed sortation, according to one ormore embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of controlling a materialhandling system according to improved parameters for VHS operation,according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of performing dynamicrecirculation for very high speed sortation, according to one or moreembodiments; and

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of dynamic recirculationcontrol for a linear sortation conveyor of a material handling system,according to one or more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of dynamicrecirculation control for a linear sortation conveyor of a materialhandling system. In one or more embodiments, the method includes (i)receiving divert destination assignments for a train of articlesconveyed onto a linear sortation conveyor that has a primaryrecirculation path and a secondary recirculation path. At least one ofthe primary and secondary recirculation paths are reachable by aparticular article by lateral repositioning on an endless apron of thelinear sortation conveyor. The method includes (ii) determining whetherthe particular article conveyed on the linear sortation conveyor has animpending recirculation status; and (iii) in response to determiningthat the particular article has the impending recirculation status, themethod includes assigning the particular article to one of primary andsecondary recirculation paths.

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a material handlingsystem that includes a linear sortation conveyor upstream of arecirculation sortation conveyor. The linear sortation conveyor includesan elongate frame comprising a pair of lateral side frames. An endlessapron is supported for movement on the elongate frame to define a topconveying run and a bottom return run. More than one pusher is receivedfor lateral movement across the endless apron. More than one divertconveyor positioned respectively along at least one lateral side of theelongate frame to receive articles diverted by one or more pusher fromthe distally-moving top conveying run of the endless apron. A pluralityof switches selectively divert articles to one of a plurality of divertlocations. More than one switch is associated with respective divertlocations that are in turn associated with the more than one divertconveyor. The linear sortation conveyor also includes more than onedivert guide path. Each respective divert guide path of the more thanone divert guide path is disposed downstream of a respective associatedmore than one switch to receive a selected pusher diverted by a selectedswitch into the selected divert guide path to divert a selected article.Each respective divert guide path includes an arcuate portion having acontinuously increasing slope without a breakpoint to laterallyaccelerate the diverted article without an abrupt initial force beingapplied. The recirculation sortation conveyor dynamically recirculatesarticles that are not diverted by a linear sortation conveyor of thematerial handling system. the recirculation sortation conveyor includesan elongate frame comprising a pair of lateral side frames. An endlessapron is supported for longitudinal movement on the elongate frame todefine a top conveying run and a bottom return run. The endless apron ofthe recirculation sortation conveyor is positioned downstream of alinear sortation conveyor to receive at an offset lateral position atrain of articles that are not diverted by the linear sortationconveyor. More than one pusher is received for lateral movement acrossthe endless apron transverse to the longitudinal movement. Each pusherhas a pin extending below the top conveying run. A pin guide assembly iscoupled between the elongate lateral frames. The pin guide assembly isupwardly presented to selectively receive the pin of respective morethan one pusher. The pin guide assembly includes an upstream pre-sortsection that positions the articles selectively from the offset lateralportion to an opposite lateral portion of the top conveying run. Two ormore recirculation sortation conveyors are positioned downstream of therecirculation sortation conveyor respectively to receive articlespresorted to one of the offset lateral position and the opposite lateralposition. A scanner is positioned to detect position and identifyingindicia of a train of articles conveyed onto the linear sortationconveyor. A sortation controller is in communication with a warehouseexecution system, the scanner, the linear sortation conveyor, and therecirculation sortation conveyor. The sortation controller executescomputer-readable instructions on a processor to configure the materialhandling system to perform operations: (i) scan the train of articlesconveyed onto linear sortation conveyor; (ii) communicate theidentifying indicia to the warehouse execution system and receive anassigned divert location for each article; (iii) switch a selecteddivert switch for an assigned divert location for each article; (iv)determine whether any article was not diverted on the endless apron; and(v) in response to determining whether any article was not diverted onthe endless apron, assign the article to one of two or morerecirculation sortation conveyors and communicate the assignment to therecirculation sortation conveyor.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a recirculationsortation conveyor that dynamically recirculates articles that are notdiverted by a linear sortation conveyor of a material handling system.In one or more embodiments, the recirculation sortation conveyorincludes an elongate frame comprising a pair of lateral side frames. Therecirculation sortation controller includes an endless apron supportedfor longitudinal movement on the elongate frame to define a topconveying run and a bottom return run. The endless apron is positioneddownstream of a linear sortation conveyor to receive at an offsetlateral position a train of articles that are not diverted by the linearsortation conveyor. The recirculation sortation conveyor includes morethan one pusher received for lateral movement across the endless aprontransverse to the longitudinal movement. Each pusher has a pin extendingbelow the top conveying run. A pin guide assembly is coupled between theelongate lateral frames and upwardly presented to selectively receivethe pin of respective more than one pusher. The pin guide assemblyincludes an upstream pre-sort section that positions the articlesselectively from the offset lateral portion to an opposite lateralportion of the top conveying run. Two or more recirculation sortationconveyors are positioned downstream of the recirculation sortationconveyor respectively to receive articles presorted to one of the offsetlateral position and the opposite lateral position.

In an additional aspect, the present disclosure provides a sortationcontroller of a material handling system that dynamically assignsundiverted articles to a recirculation conveyor. In one or moreembodiments, the sortation controller includes a device interface thatis in communication with a source of information for undiverted articleson a linear sortation conveyor that are being conveyed onto arecirculation sortation conveyor. The sortation controller includes aprocessor subsystem in communication with the device interface and a pinguide assembly of the recirculation sortation conveyor. The processorsubsystem configures the recirculation sortation conveyor to: (i)determine a predicted induction position of an undiverted article on anendless apron of the recirculation sortation conveyor; (ii) determine acapacity of at two recirculation conveyors that receive articles from arespective lateral side of the recirculation sortation conveyor; and(iii) assign a pre-sort section of the pin guide assembly to positionthe undiverted article on a selected lateral side of the endless aproncorresponding to a selected one of two recirculation conveyors havingavailable capacity.

In the following description, like reference characters designate likeor corresponding parts throughout the several views. Also, in thefollowing description, it is to be understood that terms such as front,back, inside, outside, and the like are words of convenience and are notto be construed as limiting terms. Terminology used in this patent isnot meant to be limiting insofar as devices described herein, orportions thereof, may be attached or utilized in other orientations.

FIG. 1A illustrates a material handling system 100 that incorporates animprovement of a sortation controller 102 using very high speed (VHS)parameters 104 such that a linear sortation conveyor 106 can operate at650 to 700 feet per minute (fpm) or faster to 1000 fpm. The sortationconveyor 102 has a primary recirculation path 103 off the end of thelinear sortation conveyor 102 and a secondary recirculation path 103′ tohandle peak levels of recirculation that could possibly occur at thehigher operating speeds. The sortation controller 102 can execute adynamic recirculation module 107 that utilizes the secondary path 103′as a volume relief mode when the primary recirculation path 103 hasinsufficient capacity. Diverting at this rate is handled by thepreviously incorporated technology described in the Soft Touch patent.An accumulation section 108, merge conveyor 110 of a slug merge section111, gapping conveyor 112, and induction conveyor 114 operate accordingthe VHS parameters 104. These VHS parameters 104 provide sufficientnumbers of articles to the linear sortation conveyor 106 for ademonstrated sustained effective rate of four hundred (400) articles perminute based on eighteen (18) inch square corrugated totes as measuredat a scanner 115 on the induction conveyor 114. A primary recirculationcurve conveyor 116 receives articles that are not diverted by the linearsortation conveyor 106 to any of more than one divert conveyor 117. Therecirculation curve conveyor 116 and a downstream recirculationaccumulation conveyor 118 provide sufficient operating speed toaccommodate recirculation volumes up to a certain level. In somescenarios, the linear sortation conveyor 106 can be conveying a largervolume than could be accommodated by the primary recirculation curveconveyor 116. A last divert conveyor 117 of the linear conveyor 106feeds a portion of the recirculation volume to a secondary recirculationcurve conveyor 116 that in turn accumulates recirculation volume on asecondary recirculation acrumulation conveyor 118′ that is merged ontothe downstream recirculation accumulation conveyor 118 at an angledmerge conveyor 119. The sortation controller 102 keeps the secondaryrecirculation path 103′ empty when possible due to the lower capacityfor accumulation as compared to the primary recirculation path 103. Forclarity, recirculation accumulation conveyor 118 terminates an upstreamend of the merge conveyor 110. However, an installed material handlingsystem 100 that demonstrated the sustained VHS operation terminated therecirculation curve conveyor 116 on one of nine (9) accumulationconveyors 120 of the accumulation section 108. Each accumulationconveyor 118 terminates at a staging conveyor 122 operable to acceleratearticles to a merging speed.

VHS parameters 104 include the following TABLES 1-5. VHS parameters 104for gapping by gapping conveyor 112 are provided in TABLE 1:

TABLE 1 Rate Speed Gap Requested 400 articles per minute 685 to 595 feetper minute 1 inch 360 articles per minute 680 to 591 feet per minute 1inch 330 articles per minute 650 to 565 feet per minute 4 inches Ratio:1.15: 1

VHS parameters 104 for conveying by induction conveyor 114 are providedin TABLE 2:

TABLE 2 Rate Speed 400 articles per minute 700 feet per minute 360articles per minute 680 feet per minute 330 articles per minute 650 feetper minute

VHS parameters 104 for sorting by linear sortation conveyor 106 areprovided in TABLE 3:

TABLE 3 Rate Speed 400 articles per minute 700 feet per minute 360articles per minute 680 feet per minute 330 articles per minute 650 feetper minute

VHS parameters 104 for recirculating by recirculation curve conveyor 116are provided in TABLE 4:

TABLE 4 Rate Speed 400 articles per minute 600 feet per minute 360articles per minute 600 feet per minute 330 articles per minute 600 feetper minute

VHS parameters 104 for accumulation by recirculation accumulationconveyor 118 are provided in TABLE 5:

TABLE 5 Rate Speed 400 articles per minute 400 feet per minute 360articles per minute 400 feet per minute 330 articles per minute 400 feetper minute

Sortation controller 102 can dynamically speed up and slow down thematerial handling system 100 in accordance with detected upstream anddownstream throughput issues as conveyed by a warehouse managementsystem (WMS) 123. For example, the sortation controller 102 can includefeatures as the previously incorporated by reference U.S. Publ. No. US2014 0364998 A1 filed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/298,165.Accumulation conveyor 120 can operate with effective gapping control athigher speeds by utilizing commercialized technology described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 9,037,290 or 9,199,802, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. Merge conveyor 110 canincorporate high speed slug release features and may additionally becapable of reverting to a zipper merge mode when a limited number ofaccumulation conveyors 120 are active as described in U.S. Pat. No.8,886,356, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety. In addition to the Soft Touch patent, the linearsortation conveyor 106 can include slat sortation features as disclosedin PCT International Application No. WO 2004/092042 A1, the disclosureof which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The linearsortation conveyor 106 can include pushers as disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,860,376 and 7,441,646, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. All of the aforementionedU.S. issued patents and pending patent applications are assigned to theApplicant

FIG. 1B illustrates a material handling system 200 similar to thematerial handling system 100 (FIG. 1) that incorporates an improvementof a sortation controller 102 using very high speed (VHS) parameters 104such that a linear sortation conveyor 106 can operate at 650 to 700 feetper minute (fpm) or faster to 1000 fpm. The sortation conveyor 102 has aprimary recirculation path 103 off the end of the linear sortationconveyor 102 and a secondary recirculation path 103″ from the lastdivert conveyor 117 to handle peak levels of recirculation that couldpossibly occur at the higher operating speeds. The sortation controller102 can execute a dynamic recirculation module 107 that utilizes thesecondary recirculation path 103″ in a balanced, round robin mode withthe primary recirculation path 103 since the primary and secondaryrecirculation paths 103,103″ have about the same accumulation capacity.

FIG. 2 illustrates the linear sortation conveyor 102 has an elongateframe 124 including a pair of lateral side frames 126. An endless apron128 formed of lateral slats 130 are supported for movement on theelongate frame 124. The endless apron 128 has a top conveying run and abottom return run. Shoes or pushers 132 are received for lateralmovement across the endless apron 128. Divert conveyors 117 arepositioned respectively along at least one lateral side of the elongateframe 124 to receive articles 134 diverted by one or more pushers 132fiom the distally-moving top conveying run of the endless apron 128.Articles 132 can be containers, totes, boxes, cartons, bags, pouches,unitarily packaged products, etc.

FIG. 3A illustrates a pin guide assembly 135 that includes plurality ofswitches 136 that lie below the top conveying run of the endless apron128. The switches 136 selectively divert articles 134 (FIG. 2) to one ofa plurality of divert locations 138 that are each associated with adivert conveyor 117. Respective divert guide paths 140 are disposeddownstream of an associated switch 136 to receive a downwardly extendingpin (not shown) from a selected pusher 132 (FIG. 2). Diverted by theselected switch 136, the particular pusher 132 follows the selecteddivert guide path 140 to divert a selected article 134 (FIG. 2). Eachrespective divert guide path 140 has an arcuate portion 142 having acontinuously increasing slope without a breakpoint to laterallyaccelerate the diverted article 134 (FIG. 2) without an abrupt initialforce being applied.

FIG. 3B illustrates articles 134 a-134 d being sorted by the linearsortation conveyor 102 with article 134 d being farthest downstream. Thepin guide assembly 135 interacts with selected pushers 132 a-132 f todivert the articles 134 a-134 d. Pushers 132 a-132 f are not adjacent toeach other and diverted pushers there between have been omitted forclarity. Pusher 132 a is illustrated traveling along the home or chargepath indicated generally by line 144. Unless diverted at switch 136,pusher 132 a travels along the home path downstream of switch 136.Pusher 132 b has been diverted and is traveling along straight section146 of divert guide path 140. Pushers 132 c and 132 d are travelingalong arcuate portion 142. As illustrated, pusher 132 c is traveling ata lower divert angle than pusher 132 d. Pushers 132 e and 132 f aretraveling along straight section 150, at the final divert angle. A setof diverted pushers for article 134 c may include additional pushers(not shown) between pushers 132 d and 132 e, as well as pushers locatedupstream and/or downstream thereof, or may just include the two pushers132 d and 132 e illustrated. Since pusher 132 d is traveling alongarcuate portion 142, some pushers in between pushers 132 d and 132 e arelikely bridged. By the time a pusher 132 a-132 d reaches reentry 152(FIG. 2B), the action of the pusher 132 a-132 f on the article 134 a-134d is essentially complete. The combination of the location andconfiguration of divert conveyor 117, the lateral speed of the article134 a-134 d, and the action of any pushers 132 a-132 f still acting onthe article 134 a-134 d, will result in the article 134 a-134 dtraveling onto divert conveyor 117 to complete the divert.

In zone A, upstream of switch 136, the pushers 132 a-132 f are travelingstraight in the home or charge path. In zone B, sets of one or morepushers 132 a-132 f are selectively diverted from a home path 154 byswitch 136, being guided on the pin from 0° to 20° through a smallradius. In zone C, the angle is reduced from 20° to 3° relative to thelongitudinal direction. The pushers 132 a-132 f are guided through aslarge a radius as feasible, given length constraints. Up to this point,there preferably has been no contact with any articles 134 a-134 d onthe conveying surface, with each pusher 134 a-134 d being primarilyguided by its pin. Article 134 a is positioned to be spaced laterallyaway from the charge or home path 154 of the pusher 132 a by a nominaldistance of 3 inches. By the end of zone C, the pushers of the divertedset of pushers are close to but have not necessarily contacted thearticle 134 b which is laterally aligned with the diverted set ofpushers 132 b.

In zone D, the initial contact is made between the diverted set ofpushers 132 b and the article 134 b being diverted. Within this initialcontact zone, the article 134 b being diverted is initially contacted byat least one of the pushers of the diverted set of pushers 132 b.

As previously mentioned, each carton is preferably positioned to theswitch side of linear sortation conveyor 106, being single file and edgealigned such that the edge of the article 134 is parallel to thelongitudinal direction. Differently positioned article 134 may limit theeffectiveness: In the depicted embodiment, the system is designed formaximum effectiveness with article 134 being edge aligned and spaced anominal distance of three (3) inches from the edge of the pushers 132traveling along the home path. In the depicted embodiment, the contactzone falls within zone D, such as along straight section 146, with thedivert angle of the pusher making initial contact being 3°. It is notedthat within a linear portion of the divert guide path, the pushers havea constant lateral speed and thus no lateral acceleration.

The length and angle of zone D is calculated to produce initialengagement between the diverted pushers and the laterally alignedcartons being diverted within zone D. It is noted that the straightsection of zone D may be omitted, with arcuate portion 142 matingdirectly with exit section 8 g, with the divert angle at which theinitial pusher to contact the carton is traveling when it initiallycontacts the carton, also referred to as the initial contact divertangle, being low enough that the impact between the pushers and thecartons does not result in an out-of-control situation.

The initial engagement should preferably be as gentle as possible, suchthat the force with which the carton is contacted when divert of thecarton is initiated is sufficiently low enough to maintain controlthroughout the entire range of longitudinal speeds at which thesortation conveyor operates. Article 134 under control during divertreliably and repeatably reach the divert, and the articles 134 arereliably not rotated substantially beyond the final divert angle, upsetor toppled. Control in a material handling system 100, configuredaccording to the teachings hereof to maintain control of articles beingdiverted at high speeds, is determined by the articles 134 for which thematerial handling system 100 is used. A material handling system 100does not lack control at operating speeds because cartons for which thesystem is not designed, or cartons for which the system is not typicallyused, cannot be diverted under control. For example, the inability of alinear sortation conveyor 106 constructed in accordance with the presentinnovation to control unique cartons which are different from thearticles 134 for which the linear sortation conveyor 106 was designed oris used, does not mean that the sortation conveyor does not maintaincontrol of articles 134 being diverted. The measure of control is thatof the articles 134 for which the system is designed or used.

When the initial contact occurs while pushers are traveling along anarcuate path, the pusher is being laterally accelerated upon initialcontact. The acceleration rate or rates of at least the first pusher 132of the diverted set of pushers to contact the carton being diverted mustbe sufficiently low enough to maintain control throughout the entirerange of longitudinal speeds at which the linear sortation conveyor 106functions. The present innovation is configured to minimize the maximumimpact speed of the pushers 132 with the articles 134, resulting in alow initial impact force.

Any article 134 being diverted must be laterally accelerated from itszero lateral speed to its final lateral speed. Each article 134 beingdiverted by the present innovation is laterally accelerated, whetherinitial contact occurs in a linear portion of the divert guide path 140where the pushers 132 have no lateral acceleration, such as that definedby straight section 146, or in an arcuate portion of the divert guidepath where the pushers are being laterally accelerated, such as thatdefined by arcuate portion 142. It is noted that “chatter”, minorfluctuations in lateral speed or lateral acceleration resulting fromvariation in longitudinal speed, tolerances and loading, are excludedfrom consideration.

Although bridging can occur even if the initial contact zone portion islinear and followed by a linear divert guide path, zone D is designed togenerally have the initial contact and therefore initial impact of thepushers on the cartons occur within zone D, although some pushers mayhave initial contact within zone E or F, depending on bridging. Thedivert angle of zone D functions to minimize lateral speed of pusherswhen they initially contact a carton. Even if bridging occurs, initialcontact between a diverted set of pushers (the first contact by any ofthe diverted set) occurs at low lateral speed. The impact force resultsfrom the difference in lateral speed between the carton and the pushers:Since the cartons generally have no lateral speed prior to initiation ofdivert, the impact force generally is the result of only the lateralspeed of the pusher.

Even if all of the diverted set of pushers in zone D are in engagementwith the diverted carton by the time the leading pusher reaches the endof zone D, the diverted article 134 can bridge intermediate pushers 132within the diverted set in zone E with the arcuate divert guide path.Such bridging also occurs if the initial contact zone portion isarcuate.

In the embodiment depicted, the direction of travel of pushers 132traveling in zone E begins at 3° and ends at 20°. In zone E, the article134 continues to be rotated, until the trailing edge of the cartonreaches the end of zone E, at which location the rotation of the cartonis completed, usually matching the final divert angle of straightsection 150, which is 20° in the depicted embodiment. Arcuate portion142 causes the pushers to gradually, not necessarily constantly, rotateand laterally accelerate the cartons, producing low forces therebe-tween. The acceleration is preferably below 1 g, and in the depictedembodiment it is less than 0.3 g. Without being limited thereto, anarcuate portion 142 that limits the lateral acceleration of pushers whenin contact with cartons to less than 0.4 g will result in desirableimprovement in control. By way of examples, an arcuate section with a 15foot radius, having a final divert angle of 20°, operating at 650 feetper minute results in an average lateral acceleration of about 0.25 g,with a maximum lateral acceleration of about 0.277 g; an arcuate sectionwith a twelve (12) foot radius, having a final divert angle of 20°,operating at 650 feet per minute results in an average lateralacceleration of about 0.32 g, with a maximum lateral acceleration ofabout 0.347 g; an arcuate section with an 8 foot radius, having a finaldivert angle of 30°, operating at 650 feet per minute results in anaverage lateral acceleration of about 0.51 g, with a maximum lateralacceleration of about 0.62 g; an arcuate section with a 15 foot radius,having a final divert angle of 20°, operating at 630 feet per minuteresults in an average lateral acceleration of about 0.24 g, with amaximum lateral acceleration of about 0.26 g; an arcuate section with a12 foot radius, having a final divert angle of 20°, operating at 630feet per minute results in an average lateral acceleration of about 0.3g, with a maximum lateral acceleration of about 0.33 g; and an arcuatesection with a 8 foot radius, having a final divert angle of 30°,operating at 630 feet per minute results in an average lateralacceleration of about 0.48 g, with a maximum lateral acceleration ofabout 0.58 g.

The curved divert guide path allows for better controlled cartonhandling. While a large radius for arcuate portion 142 is desirable, totake the pushers to their maximum lateral speed as gradually aspossible, improvements from use of the present innovation may be seen ata radius as small as one foot providing improved control at lowerspeeds. The divert guide path defined by section 146, having a lowdivert angle, and arcuate portion 142, distributes the force necessaryto laterally accelerate articles over a longitudinal and lateraldistance, instead of a large initial, almost instantaneous force beingapplied to the article being diverted as the result of the pusherelements moving transversely at the final divert angle or a large divertangle when the article is initially contacted. The energy to laterallyaccelerate the cartons is initially imparted to the cartons at a lowlateral speed, and is imparted thereafter at increasing lateral speedsuntil the lateral speed of the cartons match the final divert lateralspeed.

Within zone E, as the diverted set of pushers travels through thearcuate portion 142 of divert guide path 140, the lateral speed of thediverted article 134 is increased, being laterally accelerated as thepushers 132 in contact with the article 134 are accelerated from a firstspeed at which the carton was initially contacted to a second speed atthe end of zone E, at which the divert angle of the end 14 b of divertguide path 140 preferably is approximately tangent to the divert angleof straight section 150, which is the final divert angle at which thediverted carton is delivered to the divert. Within zone E, pushers whichmay be bridged therein, and thus not in contact with the carton, arealso accelerated to the second speed at the end of zone E. Generally,all pushers 132 of the diverted set within zone F will be in contactwith the carton. Throughout the length of the arcuate divert guide pathdefined by arcuate portion 142, for a single radius arc, the lateralacceleration of pushers travelling there along gradually increases untilit instantaneously goes to zero when straight section 150 is entered atentrance 16 a.

FIG. 4 illustrates a material handling system 400 having a dynamiccapacity recirculation system 402 that can accommodate high volumes ofarticles 404 that are not diverted by the VHS linear sortation conveyor102. The dynamic capacity recirculation system 402 is managed by arecirculation sortation conveyor 408 that can switch articles such ascartons or totes to more than one recirculation destination, illustratedas three recirculation sortation conveyors 410 and two destinationlocations 411 such as chutes or Gaylords. The recirculation sortationconveyor 408 can incorporates aspects of presorting and diverting with a“soft touch” as described for the linear sortation conveyor 106 (FIG. 1)to facilitate VHS operation.

The material handling system 400 receives articles in a receiving center412 and may buffer inventory in a storage area, such as an automatedstorage/retrieval system (ASRS) 414. In response to orders orre-optimizing placement within a distribution center, a warehousemanagement system (WMS) 416 can direct that articles 404 be brought outof ASRS 414. In other instances, WMS 416 can determine what articles 404have been received in the receiving center 412 and convey the articles404 for sorting. Articles are accumulated on accumulation conveyors 418.A sortation controller 420 monitors the articles 404 on the accumulationconveyor and can receive information from WMS 416 as to destination andpriority of these articles 404. Sortation controller 420 executes azipper merge or slug merge operation to release articles 404 onto amerge conveyor 422. In order meet requirements of a scanner 424 and thelinear sortation conveyor 102 for spacing between articles 404, thearticles are gapped on a gapping conveyor 426 before pass through thefield of view of the scanner 424. Linear sortation conveyor 102 divertseach article 404 to an assigned destination, such as a selected divertconveyor 428 to a shipping center 430. Those articles 404 that are notdelivered are then handled by the recirculation sortation conveyor 410.In an illustrative embodiment, the recirculation sortation conveyor 410presorts right or left respectively to align articles for a first andsecond recirculation sortation conveyor 432 a-432 b. To handle a largeamount of recirculation such as due to an emergency stop of the linearsortation conveyor 102, the recirculation sortation conveyor 410 canalso divert certain cartons to a third recirculation sortation conveyor432 c. For clarity, each recirculation sortation conveyor 432 a-432 chas its own path back to become an accumulation input to the mergeconveyor 422. In some embodiments, the recirculation sortation conveyor432 a-432 c can themselves merge beforehand and can terminate at anotheraccumulation conveyor 418.

Sortation conveyor 420 can obtain positioning information for articles404 to be recirculated from a vision system 434. Certain articles 404may have been laterally, longitudinally, or rotationally displacedduring transit of the linear sortation conveyor 410. Recirculationsortation conveyor 410 can adjust assignment of pushers 436 tocompensate for this displacement. In addition, photoeyes 438 can beplaced a key places on the material handling system 400 to economicallyobtain information as to the position of articles 404. Articles 404 canbe relatively small, such as e-commerce parcels or polybags.Recirculation sortation conveyor 410 can divert certain articles tochutes 440 rather than recirculating the articles 404 for resorting.

FIG. 5 illustrates the linear sortation conveyor 102 inducting onto atransition conveyor section 501 and then onto an example recirculationsortation conveyor 500. The transition conveyor section 501 can be aroller conveyor or belt conveyor section with gap fillers 503 such asupwardly extending brush bristles or horizontal sliding plates. Thetransition conveyor section 501 covers any drive pulley curvature of thelinear sortation conveyor 102. The recirculation sortation conveyor 500includes an elongate frame 502 having a pair of lateral side frames 504.An endless apron 506 of slats 508 is supported for longitudinal movementon the elongate frame 502 to define a top conveying run and a bottomreturn run. The endless apron 506 of the recirculation sortationconveyor 500 is positioned downstream of a linear sortation conveyor 102to receive the undiverted articles 404 (FIG. 4) at an offset lateralposition. More than one pusher 510 is received for lateral movementacross the endless apron 506 transverse to the longitudinal movement.Each pusher 510 has a pin (not shown) extending below the top conveyingrun.

FIG. 6 illustrates the recirculation sortation conveyor 500 having a pinguide assembly 601 that is coupled between the elongate lateral frames502 and upwardly presented to receive a pin 603 and thereby to guideeach pusher 510. The pin guide assembly 601 includes an upstreampre-sort section 605 that positions the articles 404 selectively from anoffset lateral portion 607 to an opposite lateral portion 609 of the topconveying run of the endless apron 506 (FIG. 5), which are illustratedas left and right respectively. Recirculation sortation conveyors 520a-520 b are positioned downstream of the recirculation sortationconveyor 500 respectively to receive articles 404 presorted to one ofthe offset lateral position 607 and the opposite lateral position 609.Those articles 404 that are to be diverted are switched by a divertsection 611 rather than continuing straight ahead onto recirculationsortation conveyors 520 a-520 b.

As the pushers 510 travel on the bottom return run of the endless apron506 (FIG. 5), each pusher 510 is centered by left and right convergingguides 613, 615. As assigned, each pusher 510 is selectively reset bysetup switch 616 to continue on bottom straight guide 617 or to follow abottom offset guide 619 to position the pusher 510 outside of the offsetlateral portion 607. Once the pusher 510 is returned to the startingpoint of the top conveying run of the endless apron 506 (FIG. 5), acalibration gate 621 can be activated to align the pusher 510 furtheroutboard of the pin guide assembly 601 to traverse outside of a leftside straight guide 623 for calibration purposes. Pushers 510 that areotherwise selected to be on this outboard side rather than the middle bythe setup switch 616 are used to laterally reposition articles 404. Eachoutboard pusher 510 is selected that is predicted to flank a particulararticle 404 that is to be laterally and gently repositioned to theopposite lateral portion 609. The flanking pusher 510 is guided towardthe center to a center passage 625 by a left converging guide 627.Pushers 510 that were generally centered by the setup switch 616 areselected to slightly move toward the offset lateral portion 607 by anangled guide 629 that brings these pushers 510 into the center passage625 while aligning as necessary any article 404 in the offset lateralportion 607 that was assigned to remain in the offset lateral portion607. The pushers 510 can then follow a straight guide 631 that movesslightly toward the opposite lateral portion 609, gently finishinglateral positioning of any articles that were assigned to oppositelateral portion 609. The pushers 510 then enter a left shifting centerpassage 633 that position the pushers 510 in the center of the endlessapron 506 (FIG. 5), separated by a small amount from articles 404 thatmay be to either side. Right-to-center guide 634 also directs anypushers 510 that may have been inadvertently on the opposite lateralportion 609. Pins 603 of the pushers 510 then enter a first nested dualswitch 635 having a first left switch 637 that can selectively direct apusher 510 onto a leftward diverging guide 639 or a second right switch641 that selectively direct a pusher 510 onto a rightward divergingguide 643. Any flanked article 404 is thereby diverted. A return guide645 directs any diverted pusher to follow respectively a left or rightstraight path 647, 649 through the remainder of the divert section 611.

FIG. 6 illustrates a second nested dual switch 635 in which only thefirst left switch 637 is used to obtain another left divert destination“D2” via a second leftward diverging guide 639, the second right switch639 is not used. A third nested dual switch 635 is not used. It shouldbe appreciated that any number of divert paths can be incorporated toachieve a desired number of recirculation paths, including no divertpaths. In one or more embodiments, the recirculation sortation conveyor500 can also be used to direct articles 404 to other locations that backto the linear sortation conveyor 102 (FIG. 3).

In operation, FIG. 7 illustrates the recirculation sortation conveyor500 assigning pushers 510 to pre-sort and selectively divert articles(“A”) 404 from an offset induct (“I”) to one of five locations. Bypre-sorting left, certain articles 404 are prepared to routing to leftside divert destinations “D1” and “D2” or left side recirculationdestination “D3”. By pre-sorting right, certain articles 404 areprepared for right side recirculation destination “De1,” or for rightside divert destination “D5”. Pushers 510 can be directed to an outboardand straight calibration path 701. Pushers 610 otherwise selected to beon the offset lateral portion 607 follow a left-to-center path 703,moving any article 404 most to the way into the opposite lateral portion609. Pushers 510 that were left centered follow a slightly angled path705 closer to the center thereby adjusting any articles to the left thatwere assigned to remain in the offset lateral portion 607. A left andright adjusting path 707 that follows gently completes any requiredoutward movement of the articles 404 in preparation for diverting orallowing to exit off the end of the recirculation sortation conveyor 500on the assigned lateral side. Each pusher 510 can then be allowed totransit along an undiverted, straight path 709, can be switched onto afirst left divert path 711, switched right onto a right divert path 713,or switch onto a second left divert path 715.

In FIG. 8, an exemplary material handling system 800 of a distributioncenter processing architecture 802 is depicted wherein very high speedsortation controller 804 is implemented within a sortation control 806.Controller logic 808 stored in computer-readable, shared memory 810 isexecuted by processors 812 in a controller 814 of the material handlingsystem 800. One function of the controller logic 808 can be machinecontrol logic. The controller 814 can be a primary controller supportedby a backup controller 815 such that maintenance personal could swapcables or connections in the event of a failure without undue servicedowntime. Alternatively, a supervising system or the self-diagnosticscould cause automatic switching between primary and backup in the eventof a failure.

Scan logic, or merely a scan 816, refers to an implementation within thecontroller logic 808 wherein the processors 812 repeatedly execute aread input component 818, a solve logic component 820, and a writeoutputs component 822. By performing this sequence on a regular,periodic basis (deterministic), then the machine control logic can countscans to measure time. These three steps can be performed by aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a personal computer (PC), aminicontroller, or microcontroller, etc. The solve logic component 820can incorporate 1F-THEN-ELSE branching logic, motion control, simple tosophisticates, hardlined to configured. Data, used by the solve logiccomponent 820, can reside in the computer-readable, shared memory 810 ora data store device 824 (e.g., local, remote, cloud-based, etc.). A userinterface 826 can be used to modify the solve logic component 820 suchas by changing values that change the configuration or operation.

As is conventionally understood, the controller logic 808 can receivebinary type inputs (e.g., switches, photo eyes, etc.) and generatebinary type outputs (e.g., motor contacts, solenoid valves, lampactuations, etc.). For example, in such an implementation, the userinterface 826 can entail at least in part push button controls andlamps. More recent developments for controller logic 808 can includeRS232 serial devices with cathode ray tube (CRT) screens and keyboardsthat enable dialog screens and data display along with printers forgenerating reports. Barcode scanning can detect items processed by thematerial handling system 800. More recently, wired and wirelesscommunication within the material handling system 800 and distributioncenter processing architecture 802 enable more distributed and remotelyisolated implementations. For example, such communication architecturesmay employ bus couplers such a PROFIBUS and ETHERCAT.

The scan 816 can be one of many control scans to support increasedspeeds and complexities for portions of the material handling system800. Certain logic is required to be performed during shorter intervalsthan others and so the scans 816 can have different periodicities, oftenselected for convenience to occur as multiples of the shortest durationscan 816. Examples include scans 816 of 1 ms and 2 ms for motioncontrol, 8 ms for a merge subsystem, and 211 ms for general conveyor.

The material handling system 800 can incorporate host communications 828to a warehouse execution system 830 using serial ports, Ethernet, filetransfer protocol HP , Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP), etc. Thereby, the warehouse execution system 830 can makedecisions for the material handling system 800. For example, a scanner832 can see a barcode. The barcode is sent to the warehouse executionsystem 830, such as via a bridge 834. The warehouse execution system 830responds with a destination. In response, the material handling system800 causes the item with the barcode to go to that destination.Alternatively, the process can entail receiving a batch or download ofdestinations mapped to barcodes as part of a lookup table (LUT) forreference by the material handling system 800. Warehouse executionsystem can refer to an order fulfillment system, a warehouse managementsystem, a warehouse control system, a host system, etc.

The computer-readable shared memory 810 can allow execution of anoperating system (e.g., Windows, LINX, etc.) 836 to execute with a realtime extension 838. The real time extension 838 assures that the machinecontrol logic (controller logic 808) gets to execute completely on thetime schedule required. Variations in the execution schedule aremeasured in microseconds. This approach assures the kind of precisionrequired for the machine control while retaining access to the power andflexibility of a general purpose Operating system (e.g., Windows). PLCs,which can also be included for machine control, can operate in their ownproprietary environments (hardware and software) and are integratedusing communications. Data 840 from these communications is stored incomputer-readable shared memory 810 for use in control decisions and fordisplay on user interface 826. In an exemplary version, the data 840 isnot controlled by the real time extension 838. In a similar fashion,other communicating devices 842 used in the control process (e.g.,scales, printers) are connected via a private internal communicationsbus (e.g., Ethernet) 844 to the processors 812. The controller 814 canalso have internal input/output drivers 845 to interface using specificcommunication protocols.

The distribution center processing architecture 802 can include othersystems external to the material handling system 800 that communicatevia the bridge 834, such as a database 846, a warehouse control system(WCS) 848, and a warehouse management system (WMS) 850. In addition, theuser interface 826 can facilitate remote or automated interaction viathe user interface 826, depicted as a local application 852 and a webapplication 854. The controller 814 can include specific interfaces tosupport this interaction, such as a user interface data access component856 to interact with user interface 826, middleware routing component858 to interface with other external systems. Operating system services860 and a device communication component 862 can also support thecommunications, such as sensors 864, actuators 866, diagnostic systems868, and a sorter speed control 870.

The controller logic 808 can be functional described as materialhandling control layers 872 of software functionality, such as thesortation control 806, that address certain subsystems within adistribution center: order fulfillment 874, carousel management 876,tilt tray/cross belt (TT/CB) control 878, conveyor control 880, ordermanager 882 and route manager 884.

While the disclosure has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, will be understood by those skilled in the art that variouschanges may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elementsthereof without departing fiom the scope of the disclosure. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular system, device orcomponent thereof to the teachings of the disclosure without departingfiom the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that thedisclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed forcarrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure will include allembodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover,the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order orimportance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used todistinguish one element from another.

For example, running average carton length can be used. Then, after areset, the expected average for the ten minute timer can be used. Thesame approach can be used for the one (1) minute average forrecirculation. Alternatively or in addition, inter-slug gap can beconsidered in the calculation.

In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, an element, or anyportion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implementedwith a “processing system” that includes one or more physical devicescomprising processors. Non-limiting examples of processors includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs),field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices(PLDs), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), state machines, gatedlogic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardwareconfigured to perform the various functionality described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system mayexecute instructions. A processing system that executes instructions toeffect a result is a processing system which is configured to performtasks causing the result, such as by providing instructions to one ormore components of the processing system which would cause thosecomponents to perform acts which, either on their own or in combinationwith other acts performed by other components of the processing systemwould cause the result. Software shall be construed broadly to meaninstructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code,programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, softwareapplications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects,executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whetherreferred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription language, or otherwise. The software may reside on acomputer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may be anon-transitory computer-readable medium. Computer-readable mediumincludes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk,floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., compact disk (CD),digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device(e.g., card, stick, key drive), random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, andany other suitable medium for storing software and/or instructions thatmay be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium maybe resident in the processing system, external to the processing system,or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system.The computer-readable medium may be embodied in a computer-programproduct. By way of example, a computer-program product may include acomputer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in theart will recognize how best to implement the described functionalitypresented throughout this disclosure depending on the particularapplication and the overall design constraints imposed on the overallsystem.

“Processor” means devices which can be configured to perform the variousfunctionality set forth in this disclosure, either individually or incombination with other devices. Examples of “processors” includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs),field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices(PLDs), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), state machines, gatedlogic, and discrete hardware circuits. The phrase “processing system” isused to refer to one or more processors, which may be included in asingle device, or distributed among multiple physical devices.

“Instructions” means data which can be used to specify physical orlogical operations which can be performed by a processor. Instructionsshould be interpreted broadly to include, code, code segments, programcode, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, softwareapplications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects,executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, hardwaredescription language, middleware, etc., whether encoded in software,firmware, hardware, microcode, or otherwise.

The various embodiments may be implemented in any of a variety ofcomputing devices, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 9. Acomputing device 900 will typically include a processor 901 coupled tovolatile memory 902 and a large capacity nonvolatile memory, such as adisk drive 905 of Flash memory. The computing device 900 may alsoinclude a floppy disc drive 913 and a compact disc (CD) drive 914coupled to the processor 901. The computing device 900 may also includea number of connector ports 915 coupled to the processor 901 forestablishing data connections or receiving external memory devices, suchas a USB or FireWire connector sockets, or other network connectioncircuits for establishing network interface connections from theprocessor 901 to a network or bus, such as a local area network coupledto other computers and servers, the Internet, the public switchedtelephone network, and/or a cellular data network. The computing device900 may also include the trackball or touch pad 917, keyboard 918, anddisplay 919 all coupled to the processor 901.

The various embodiments may also be implemented on any of a variety ofcommercially available server devices, such as the server 1000illustrated in FIG. 10. Such a server 1000 typically includes aprocessor 1001 coupled to volatile memory 1002 and a large capacitynonvolatile memory, such as a disk drive 1003. The server 1000 may alsoinclude a floppy disc drive, compact disc (CD) or DVD disc drive 1004coupled to the processor 1001. The server 1000 may also include networkaccess ports 1006 coupled to the processor 1001 for establishing networkinterface connections with a network 1007, such as a local area networkcoupled to other computers and servers, the Internet, the publicswitched telephone network, and/or a cellular data network.

FIG. 11 illustrates a method 1100 of VHS sortation by a materialhandling system In one or more embodiments, method 1100 includesaccessing, by a sortation controller, parameters for a target operatingspeed of the linear sortation conveyor, wherein the VHS parameterscomprise an improvement for operation of at least 650 to 1000 feet persecond (block 1102). In an exemplary, demonstrated improvement, theVI-IS parameters provide for 650 to 700 feet per second. For example,for totes that are approximately 18″ square, the VHS parameters yield asustained, demonstrated effective rate of 400 totes per minute (TPM).Method 1100 includes commanding, by the sortation controller, slugreleases from the more than one accumulation conveyor onto the mergeconveyor (block 1104). Method 1100 includes gapping, by the sortationcontroller, each article in the train of articles on the gappingconveyor according to the VHS parameters (block 1106). Method 1100includes scanning the train of articles conveyed between the mergeconveyor and the linear sortation conveyor on the induction conveyor(block 1108). Method 1100 includes communicating, by the sortationcontroller, the identifying indicia to the warehouse execution system(block 1110). Method 1100 includes receiving, by the sortationcontroller, an assigned divert location for each article from thewarehouse execution system (block 1112). Method 1100 includes switching,by the sortation controller, a selected divert switch for an assigneddivert location for each article (block 1114).

FIG. 12 illustrates a method 1200 of a sortation controller of amaterial handling system dynamically recirculating articles. In one ormore embodiments, the method 1200 includes communicating, by thesortation controller, via a device interface with a source ofinformation for undiverted articles on a linear sortation conveyor thatare being conveyed onto a recirculation sortation conveyor (block 1202).In one or more embodiments, the method 1200 includes receiving an imageof the articles on the linear sortation conveyor (block 1204). Themethod includes determining a predicted induction position of anundiverted article on an endless apron of the recirculation sortationconveyor (block 1206). The method 1200 includes determining whethercapacity information is available for recirculation conveyors and anyother divert location of the recirculation sortation conveyor (decisionblock 1208). In response to determining that capacity information is notavailable in decision block 1208, the method 1200 includes round robinassigning the recirculation sortation conveyors and any other divertlocations (block 1210). In response to determining that capacityinformation is available in decision block 1208, the method 1200includes determining a capacity of at two recirculation conveyors thatreceive articles from a respective lateral side of the recirculationsortation conveyor and any divert location on a selected lateral side ofthe recirculation sortation conveyor (block 1212). After completingeither block 1210 or block 1212, method 1200 includes assigning apre-sort section of the pin guide assembly to position the undivertedarticle on a selected lateral side of the endless apron corresponding toa selected one of two recirculation conveyors or the divert locationhaving available capacity (block 1214). Method 1200 further determineswhether the assignment is to any divert location (decision block 1216).In response to determining that the assignment is to not to any divertlocation in decision block 1216, the method 1200 returns to block 1202.In response to determining that the assignment is to any divert locationin decision block 1216, the method 1200 includes assigning a divertsection of the pin guide assembly to laterally divert to a selecteddivert location (block 1218). Then method 1200 returns to block 1202.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method 1300 of dynamic recirculation control for alinear sortation conveyor of a material handling system. In one or moreembodiments, the method 1300 receiving, by a sortation controller,divert destination assignments from a warehouse execution system for atrain of articles conveyed onto a linear sortation conveyor that has aprimary recirculation path and a secondary recirculation path (block1302). At least one of the primary and secondary recirculation paths arereachable by a particular article by lateral repositioning on an endlessapron of the linear sortation conveyor. The method 1300 includesdetermining whether the warehouse execution system fails to timelyassign the particular article to any divert destination (decision block1304). In response to determining that the warehouse execution systemhas failed to timely assign the particular article to any divertlocation in decision block 1304, then method 1300 includes setting animpending recirculation status for the particular article (block 1306).In response to determining that the warehouse execution system hastimely assigned the particular article to any divert location, themethod 1300 includes communicating the assigned divert destination forthe particular article to the linear sortation conveyor (block 1308).The method 1300 includes receiving an image of the linear sortationconveyor at a time after an assigned time for the linear sortationconveyor to divert the particular article at the assigned divertdestination (block 1310). The method 1300 includes recognizing whetherthe particular article is in the image at a position on the linearsortation conveyor downstream of the assigned destination location(decision block 1312). In response to recognizing the particular articlein the image at the position on the linear sortation conveyor downstreamof the assigned destination location in decision block 1312, the method1300 includes setting an impending recirculation status for theparticular article (block 1306). In response to recognizing theparticular article is not in the image at the position on the linearsortation conveyor downstream of the assigned destination location indecision block 1312, the method 1300 includes returning to block 1302 tocontinue assigning and monitor articles of the train of articles.

Returning to block 1306, the method 1300 includes determining whetherthe material handling system is configured for balanced recirculation onthe primary and secondary recirculation paths (decision block 1314). Inresponse to determining that the material handling system is configuredfor balanced recirculation on the primary and secondary recirculationpaths in decision block 1314, the method 1300 includes round robinassigning of the particular article along with any other articles in thetrain of articles having the status of impending recirculation (block1316). Then method 1300 returns to block 1302 to continue assigning andmonitor articles of the train of articles. In response to determiningthat the material handling system is not configured for balancedrecirculation on the primary and secondary recirculation paths indecision block 1314, the method 1300 includes determining whether asensor indicates that the primary recirculation path has headroom toreceive the particular article (decision block 1318). In response todetermining that the sensor indicates that the primary recirculationpath has headroom to receive the particular article in decision block1318, the method 1300 includes assigning the particular article to theprimary recirculation path, which can entail merely allowing theparticular article to exit off of the end of the linear sortationconveyor (block 1320). Then method 1300 returns to block 1302 tocontinue assigning and monitor articles of the train of articles. Inresponse to determining that the sensor indicates that the primaryrecirculation path does not have headroom to receive the particulararticle in decision block 1318, the method 1300 includes communicatingto the linear sortation conveyor an assignment of the particular articleto the secondary recirculation path to prompt diverting at the lastdivert location (block 1322). Then method 1300 returns to block 1302 tocontinue assigning and monitor articles of the train of articles.

While the present embodiment of the invention has been illustrated bydescription of several embodiments and while the illustrativeembodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not theintention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope ofthe appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages andmodifications may readily appear to those skilled in the art.

It should be appreciated that any patent, publication, or otherdisclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to beincorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to theextent that the incorporated material does not conflict with existingdefinitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in thisdisclosure. As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure asexplicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting materialincorporated herein by reference. Any material, or portion thereof, thatis said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts withexisting definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forthherein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arisesbetween that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.

1. A sortation controller of a material handling system, the sortationcontroller comprising: a processor subsystem in communication with adevice interface and a pin guide assembly of a recirculation sortationconveyor, the processor subsystem is configured to: determine apredicted induction position of an undiverted article on an endlessapron of the recirculation sortation conveyor; determine a capacity oftwo recirculation conveyors that receive articles from a respectivelateral side of the recirculation sortation conveyor; wherein, inresponse to determining that at least one of the two recirculationconveyors has available capacity, the processor subsystem is configuredto: select at least one of the two recirculation conveyors, wherein theselected at least one of the two recirculation conveyors has availablecapacity; and assign a pre-sort section of the pin guide assembly toposition the undiverted article on a selected lateral side of theendless apron corresponding to a selected one of the two recirculationconveyors; and wherein, in response to determining that neither of tworecirculation conveyors has available capacity, the processor subsystemis configured to: assign a divert section of the pin guide assembly tolaterally divert to a divert location on a selected lateral side of therecirculation sortation conveyor, wherein the divert section comprisesmore than one divert guide path, each respective divert guide pathcomprising an arcuate portion having a continuously increasing slopewithout a breakpoint to laterally accelerate the diverted articlewithout an abrupt initial force being applied; and assign the pre-sortsection to position the undiverted article on the selected lateral sidehaving one or more pushers that are configured to flank the undivertedarticle such that it is diverted by the divert section.
 2. The sortationcontroller of claim 1, wherein the processor subsystem performs a roundrobin assignment of available recirculation targets comprising the tworecirculation conveyors and the divert location.
 3. The sortationcontroller of claim 1, wherein a diverted set of pushers, when contactedwith articles, travels through the arcuate portion of the divert guidepath from a first speed to a second speed to deliver the articles totheir divert destination.
 4. A method of dynamic recirculation controlfor a linear sortation conveyor of a material handling system, themethod comprising: receiving divert destination assignments for a trainof articles conveyed onto a linear sortation conveyor that has a primaryrecirculation path and a secondary recirculation path, wherein at leastone of the primary and secondary recirculation paths are reachable by aparticular article of the train of articles by lateral repositioning onan endless apron of the linear sortation conveyor, and wherein thedivert destinations are associated with a divert conveyor comprisingdivert sections with more than one divert guide path, each respectivedivert guide path comprising an arcuate portion having a continuouslyincreasing slope without a breakpoint to laterally accelerate thediverted article without an abrupt initial force being applied;determining whether the particular article conveyed on the linearsortation conveyor has an impending recirculation status; and inresponse to determining that the particular article has the impendingrecirculation status, assigning the particular article to one of primaryand secondary recirculation paths.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereindetermining whether the particular article conveyed on the linearsortation conveyor has the impending recirculation status furthercomprises: determining whether a warehouse execution system fails totimely assign the particular article to divert destination.
 6. Themethod of claim 4, wherein determining whether the particular articleconveyed on the linear sortation conveyor has the impendingrecirculation status further comprises: receiving an image of the linearsortation conveyor, and recognizing the particular article in the imageat a position on the linear sortation conveyor downstream of an assigneddestination location.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the determiningwhether a sensor indicates headroom on the primary recirculationconveyor to receive the particular article; and in response todetermining that the primary recirculation conveyor does not haveheadroom, assigning the particular article to the secondaryrecirculation path.
 8. The method of claim 4, wherein assigning theparticular article to one of primary and secondary recirculation pathscomprises round robin assignment any articles in the train of articleshaving the status of impending recirculation.
 9. The method of claim 4,wherein a diverted set of pushers when contacted with articles travelsthrough the arcuate portion of the divert guide path from a first speedto a second speed to deliver the articles to their divert destination.